Lexmark Interact S605

Rating:4

And while you can connect the S605 to your PC or Mac via a conventional USB hook-up, it really comes into its own as a standalone, Wi-Fi connected all-in-one printer, complete with one-touch Smart Solutions that you can download from the Internet.

At the heart of the S605 lies a 4800 x 1200dpi print engine running a conventional four-colour CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) range of inks.

This makes it first and foremost a document printer although it does a surprisingly good job of photo output as well, as we’ll come to later.

All-in-one frippery includes a built-in 1200 x 2400dpi scanner, which – while not offering the ultra-high 4800 x 9600dpi maximum resolution of some competing models like the Canon PIXMA MP640 – still gives plenty of scope for enlarging small sections of original documents or photos.

There’s also a built-in media card reader with support for SD, SDHC, MMC, MS and xD cards, although there’s no CompactFlash slot, which will be missed by photographers who use D-SLRs like the Canon 50D or Nikon D300s.

Print speed is very impressive. The S605 managed to output an A4 mono text page in just seven seconds in our tests, while a colour page with mixed text and graphics pages came out in a similarly speedy 18 seconds.

Colour rendition is surprisingly rich and accurate considering there are only four inks under the bonnet, but – while the S605′s photo prowess is streets ahead of older Lexmark models that included an optional six-ink cartridge line-up, like the X4650 – it’s still not quite a match for some of the latest five-ink and six-ink printers like the Canon MP640 and Epson PX710W.

Taking into consideration that it’s an inkjet printer and not a groovy gadget that lives in your pocket, the S605 is a joy to use thanks to its big 10.9cm colour touchscreen, which makes everything from standalone photocopying to printing from memory cards a doddle.

Better still, you can download so-called Smart Solutions direct from Lexmark’s website for a wide range of one-touch functions.

These range from scanning in business cards, to viewing and printing photos from Picasa, to direct printing from Internet news feeds.

You can also print Google calendars as well as keeping an eye on an animated clock or doing your maths homework with an on-screen calculator. All in all, it’s a very well thought-out package.

We weren’t expecting too
much from Lexmark’s latest inkjet printer, having been disappointed with review
samples of pretty much every preceding model the company has sent us over the
years.

However, it seems that the
Lexmark really has turned a corner with the S605. It’s a quality printer that’s
fast and accurate, with running costs that are among the cheapest in its class.

We liked

The
big 10.9cm colour touchscreen plays host to a supremely simple yet effective
menu system, making the S605 excellent in standalone mode, without the need to
switch on your PC or Mac.

Better
still, it makes the most of its Wi-Fi connectivity, linking seamlessly to the
web so you can print news feeds or scan documents and fire them off via email
direct from the printer.

Considering
the limited range of a four-ink system, the S605 makes a surprisingly good stab
at photo printing and, while it’s not quite on a par with the latest Canon and
Epson models, it’s massively better than previous Lexmark inkjets we’ve tested.

We disliked

As
an all-in-one printer, the S605 can turn its hand to most things but there are
a couple of omissions in its feature set. For example, there’s only one paper
input tray, which can mean frequent swapping between plain and photo paper
stock, and there’s no specialist tray for printing onto white-faced CDs or
DVDs.

Pros

Fast print speeds and low costs

Internet features

Touchscreen and intuitive menu

Auto duplex

Cons

No CompactFlash

Slightly low printing and scanning resolutions

Photo quality could be better

No CD/DVD printing

One paper tray

Verdict

The feature-packed S605 combines impressive print quality with a good turn of speed and low running costs, and it’s even fun to use, which you can’t say about most printers. On top of that, the average online purchase price has also now dropped to about half the launch price, making it a real bargain.

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